Auricular Style: Frames

This two-day international conference will be the first dedicated to the Auricular style, centring on one of its most significant manifestations, the picture frame. The conference aims to stimulate awareness & study of this important but neglected style by bringing together research in fine & decorative art histories. It will consider the origins & development of the style in different materials, together with its dissemination between European centres. The conference will explore how other areas of the decorative & applied arts fed into the creation of picture frames, & were in their turn nourished through the influence of these sculptural objects.

Fourteen speakers are anticipated, & currently include Karen Hearn (University College London), Jacob Simon (National Portrait Gallery), Hubert Baija (Rijksmuseum), Daniela Roberts (University of Würzburg), Allison Stielau (McGill University) & Ada de Wit (Radboud University / Wallace Collection). Displays to run simultaneously with the conference are planned with the Guildhall Art Gallery, & Ham House, London.

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to, connections between countries (Italy, France, Bohemia, the Netherlands, Britain, Germany & Scandinavia); the Van Vianens; Fontainebleau; the grotesque; ‘Medici’ frames; the influence of prints; Auricular settings; craftsmanship; the style’s decline & its revivals. Poster presentations exhibited during the conference will be edited with the papers & published, fully illustrated, for free download on The Frame Blog (https://auricularstyleframes.wordpress.com/about/), which it is hoped will become a hub for future related research.

Enquiries & submissions (300-400 word abstracts as Word documents) to alabone.ggmail.com

Registration free for speakers & poster contributors. Agreed travel & accommodation expenses reimbursed for speakers.

Convenors: Gerry Alabone (Tate / City & Guilds of London Art School) & Lynn Roberts (The Frame Blog) in association with the Institute of Conservation (Gilding & Decorative Surfaces Group).